As Election Day, November 6, approaches, we asked some event industry professionals to explain how they’re deciding which presidential candidate will win their vote.
I actively follow the current presidential campaigns, have financially and otherwise supported a variety of political campaigns for both parties, and yet have not definitively decided whom I am going to choose as my president. As the presidential debates push through the airwaves it becomes clearer that the term “small business” and the ideas of how the government should help small businesses are used loosely and, in my opinion, unrealistically.
As a business owner, I understand that one could not fix the amount of issues we were faced with going into this past presidential term in just four years. Nonetheless, the government as a whole needs a lot of work: Elected leaders need to work together, stop being politicians, and be educated realists to fix the problems for the better of the whole.
There was a parody on The Daily Show in which an interviewer spoke to people at the Republican National Convention, asking them, "If we run the country only like a business, wouldn't that mean that we would fire those states that are costing the federal government more than they bring in?" It was a sarcastic point, but intriguing. There needs to be balance, and everyone needs to be realistic to come up with a plan that works.
I truly believe that changing the president during such a volatile time would be detrimental and push us backward a few years. For the sake of the country, we should keep Obama in and work together to make positive changes. This is not a popularity contest; it’s logical.
It is argued by many that Obama has failed because he hasn’t fixed the economy, he hasn’t fixed unemployment, and he hasn’t fixed the debt ceiling. I question why people believe that this is something fixable in just a few years. As a business owner, I question how to quantify what has or has not been accomplished by the Obama administration. The eight years prior to Obama were a collective failure making the beginning of his term challenging as he was left with a mountain of complicated issues that needed immediate attention.
As I listen to President Obama and Governor Romney speak about the last four years, I think about how much time it would realistically take for a government to make the necessary changes to positively affect and reverse the damage that was done prior to this presidency.
When I think about which candidate to vote for I start thinking that running a small business is like running the country. As my company flourishes, governing becomes more difficult. Persistence and the time to complete a task are key. Although I like many aspects of Governor Romney’s campaign, I wonder if making that change now would prove to be positive or another step backward.
Jonathan Peters is the owner and executive director of David Ellis Events, an event production company based in Cedar Knolls, N.J.
